Time Off

Comedian Groucho Marx famously once said that he didn’t want to belong to any club that would have him as a member, but he’s clearly in a minority. Many people who can afford to do so join one or more of the private city clubs that operate in most major metropolitan areas in the U.S. and around the world.

It’s just after dawn on what promises to be a sunny South African summer day and I’m fueling up our 4x4 rental at a petrol station near the east-coast city of Durban. The attendant hands me a frosty bottle of Stoney ginger beer—so spicy that it makes my nose tingle—and asks where we’re heading.

It’s a famous island in the Atlantic Ocean that’s the perfect outdoor summer playground—secluded yet accessible. Its 21 square miles boast more golf courses per mile than anywhere else in the world. This enchanting destination has hosted the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, exciting equestrian matches, and a prestigious yacht race from Newport, Rhode Island.

Welcome to BJT’s fifth annual Book of Lists, a treasure trove of useful, funny, entertaining, and occasionally amazing information and trivia.
See the Photo Gallery below for a glimpse at some of the people, places, and items featured in this year’s Book of Lists.

EvoLux founder Ray Leavitt says he wants to make it easier for you to book a helicopter seat. He has created computerized platforms that let you either reserve the entire helicopter or open up a helicopter you’ve booked to friends or the general public to cut your costs. Leavitt claims to have 200 helicopters enrolled in the system in major metropolitan areas, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Miami. His goal is to get enough helicopters and passengers in the sky to bring down the cost for both.

Housed in the artsy Hotel Omm in the middle of Barcelona, the popular Roca Moo is a modern, stylish one-star Michelin restaurant that exudes a chic yet playful atmosphere. It is run by the three Roca brothers, who also operate El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, which was voted No. 1 on the prestigious S.Pellegrino World’s Best Restaurants list in 2013 and again last year.

If dining well means knowing that the food you eat is fresh from local farms, woods, or waters, then dining better still means experiencing nature’s bounty firsthand—picking the ripe crops, discovering the wild ones, even diving to the ocean floor in pursuit of dinner. No wonder food travel is such a hot ticket and food lovers are flocking to a wide range of hotel- and resort-sponsored, uniquely personal culinary experiences.

The clink of glasses was heard around the world on May 24, 1976, when California wines outranked respected French ones at the Paris Wine Tasting, often called the “Judgment of Paris.” The occasion fostered a rise in popularity of California wines and increased respect for their quality.

One of Philadelphia’s crown jewels is sporting a new gem. Actually, an old one, since what used to be Torresdale-Frankford Country Club dates to a 1921 design by Donald Ross. Today it’s part of the Union League, the prestigious downtown club founded in 1862 whose South Broad Street home offers a classic example of Second Empire architecture.